Chapter 8 of A House to Let is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of A House to Let is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
XV. Did she repent? O Sorrow! Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will? See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
Chapter 8 of A House to Let is here in full — 177 sentences across 36 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/35 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading “See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.”
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading “See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.”
remain present although waning or gradually dying
From this reading “Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?”
feeling or showing love and affection
From this reading “Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?”
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading “Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?”
plural of “murmur” — a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading “See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.”
having or expressing strong emotions
From this reading “See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.”
turn away from sin or do penitence
From this reading “Did she repent?”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Did she repent?
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
the motion characteristic of fluids (liquids or gases)
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
remain present although waning or gradually dying
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
feeling or showing love and affection
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
plural of “murmur” — a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading O Sorrow!
having or expressing strong emotions
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
the state prevailing during the absence of war
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
turn away from sin or do penitence
From this reading Did she repent?
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Did she repent?
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
From this reading O Sorrow!
the vital principle or animating force within living things
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
not in physical motion
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
the property of being physically or mentally strong
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
carry out
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
the process of shedding tears (usually accompanied by sobs or other inarticulate sounds)
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
an old word for “your”, speaking to one person
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
a formal word for “on”
From this reading See, her tears fall more slowly; The passionate murmurs cease, And back upon her spirit Flow strength, and love, and peace.
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading Why do we linger still To take thy loving message, And do thy gentle will?
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading XV.
Chapter 8 of A House to Let by Charles Dickens holds 177 sentences, grouped into 36 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 8 holds 177 sentences of A House to Let, unabridged, divided into 36 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of A House to Let by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 177 sentences, grouped into 36 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 36 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 36 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 8 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A House to Let by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1681 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #2324 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #2324, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 140 minutes of reading across 337 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A House to Let section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 10 chapters of A House to Let to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A House to Let, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
